Hook for singletrees.



PTENTED FEB. 17, 1903.

J. W. OVERHGLT. HOOK'FOR SINGLETREES. rumanos FILED oc'r, a1, 1902.

I0 IODBL.

m m d UNITED STATESY PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. OVERHOLT, OF LUXOR, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDMOND H. BAILEY, OF GREENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOOK FOR SINGLETREES.

SLPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 720,959, dated February 17, 1903.

vApplication iiled ctoher 31, 1902. Serial No. 129,540. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern: ing the application of my improved hook to Be it known that I, JAMES XV. OVERHOLT, a trace-tug. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the a citizen of the United States of America, resame. siding at Luxor, in the county of Westmore- To employ myimproved hook in connection 5 land andStateofPennsylvania,haveinvented vwith a singletree, I will attach the hook to certain new and useful Improvements in the singletree by means of a ring l, which is Hooks for Singletrees and Analogous Uses, of inserted through the eye of the hook and also which the following is a specification, referengages with the clevis 2, that is fastened by ence being had therein to the accompanying means of the bolt 3 or other suitable means 6o ro drawings. to the singletree 4. The ring l may be in- This invention relates to certain new and serted through the eye of the hook and then useful improvements in hooks, and relates slitted, or a split ring may be employed for particularly to such hooks as are employed connecting the hook to the clevis, as will be on singletrees, doubletrees, and in various V.readily apparent, my invention residing in 15 connections on harness; and the invention the construction of the hook.

has for its object to constructa hook in which To form my improved hook, I take a snitthe liability of accidental disengagement of able baror piece of material and double the the part detachably connected to the hook issame over at one end to form an eye 5 and reduced to a minimum. then extend the bar in a forward and -then 7o zo A further object ofthe invention is to condownward direction to form the portion 6,

struct a hook in such a manner that there with which the trace-chain 7 orother like obmay be no outwardly-lying points which are ject is detachably connected. The bar or liable to engage with passing objects. other piece of material of `which 4the hook is Briefly described, my invention resides, being formed is then carried rearwardly on a z5 primarily, in the construction of the hook, plane directly underneath the eye and forwhich from the pivotal eye thereof is bent wardly-extending part of the hook, this porforwardly and downwardly and then bent tion 8 of the hook being curved upwardly at rearwardly on a plane directly underneath the rear of the hook, as at 9, and then curved the eye and the forwardly-extending portion over on a plane directly above the eye and 8o 3o of the hook and is then curved upwardlyin `extended forwardly, nthe forward or free end a rearward direction and forwardlyrand downf .10 ofthe hookV lying at a point some distance wardly to a point above but in front of the in front of the eye. It will be observed that eye of the hook. The hook is permanently the parts of the hook embraced in the curve fastened to one object by the connection which is given to the hook are all on the same 35 through the eye thereof and is detachably vertical plane. The pocket ll, which receives connected to another object or article by inthe trace-chain or other connection,is slightly serting the free end of the hook through the wider than the remaining space between the object and turning the hook, so as to bring eye and the balance of the hook, this space the object connected therewith into engagebeing adapted to be of only sucient Width 9o 4o ment with the downwardly-bent forward end to permit the easy entrance and, exitof the of the hook. This construction will be herelink of the trace-chain or other-connection. inafter more fully described, and specifically To detach the trace-chain or other connection, pointed out in the claims, and in describing it will be observed that the end l0 of the hook the invention in detail reference is had to theY .is passed downwardly through the ring 1, thus 45 accompanying drawings, forming a part of elevating the forward end 6 ofthe hook, and this specification, and wherein like numerals ,when the curved portion lies under and the of reference indicate like parts throughout portion 8 of the hook is uppermost the link the several views, in whichor other connection will be readily disengaged Figure l is a detail perspective view showfrom the hook. roo 5o ing the application of my improved hook to In Fig. 2 I show the same form of hook apa singletree. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showplied to a trace-tug. To accomplish this, I

employ a pair of clamp-bars 12, which are riveted to the eye of the hook at one end and at the other end have pieces 14, which are adapted to be riveted to the trace-tug 15. In order to obtain a secure connection, I preferably rivet metal plates 16 to the sides of the leather traces 15, these metallic plates 16 carrying a bar 17, the edges of which project beyond the plates, so as to be engaged by the shoulders 18 of the clamp-bars 12.

Although I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a hook which may be advantageously employed in connection with a singletree and also a trace-tug, yet it will be observed that the hook may be advantageously employed in various other connections. For instance, it may be used in lieu of the single hook on the ends of a line or may be employed as the terret-hook on the saddle of single harness or as the neck-yoke or breastyoke hook and in Various other connections of a like nature. As the weight of the hook in front of the pivotal point is considerably greater than the weight back of the pivotal point, it will beobserved that when not turned upy to the position shown in the drawings the tendency of the hook will be to fall, so that the end 6 will be lowermost, obviating any danger of disengagement of the detachable connection with the hook. It will also be observed that the open end of the hook being forward toward the horses the tail of the horse will not be liable to become entangled with the hook, as is the case with single harness where the open end of the hook projects rearwardly. It will also be observed that by reason of the hook being disposed vertically instead of sidewise, as is the common case, the point or open end 10 of the hook is not liable to become engaged with any passing object, so as to damage the same, as is frequently the case where the pointed open end of the singletree-hook projects outwardly beyond the end of the singletree. It will be observed, therefore, that while I have shown the application of the hook for two purposes yet I do not wish to be limited to such use, and it will also be noted that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the general spirit of the invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a hook having an eye formed in one end thereof, and the shank of said hook bent forwardly from the eye,and then downwardly and rearwardly, said rearwardly-bent portion extending in substantial parallelism with the forwardlybent portion of the shank, said shank being curved upwardly in the rear of and in a parallel curve to the eye of said hook, and being carried forward beyond said eye, substantially as described.

2. A hook of the type set forth comprising Witnesses:

THos. WASHABAUGH, P. WENDELL. 

